


Days We Spent Together

by ritspoon



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: M/M, Red's mute, Rivals to Lovers, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-15 03:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21246629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ritspoon/pseuds/ritspoon
Summary: Despite Blue's mixed feelings towards Red, he still continues his search for him even after a year of coming up empty. Now successful in his search, he finds himself wanting to get closer to his rival and make something better for the two of them.





	1. Chapter 1

Snow falls delicately onto an already white sheet blanketing the rocky mountain surface. 

It’s beautiful, the silence of the frosted evening leave for a serene atmosphere, only the occasional, harmonic chirping of Pokemon in the distance interrupting it. If Blue were to close his eyes and allow his mind to go blank, he’s sure that he’d be able to forget all his worries.

The harsh nip of sub-zero temperatures and the ache in his feet tell him otherwise.

He’s been walking up the mountain all day, and before that, hiking around the Johto region to get more intel on a particular rumor he overheard on one of his gramps’s phone calls.

A powerful trainer being spotted on top of Mt. Silver that no other trainer could defeat. He’s only been challenged twice, he heard, but both times were absolutely devastating defeats. He’s unstoppable.

There’s only one trainer Blue knows who’s worthy enough to fit that bill.

That’s how he ended up climbing a gigantic mountain at the crack of dawn, and how he’s ended up completely worn out trying to get to the peak. He can’t quite tell how much longer he’s got, but his legs are going to give out soon. He can hardly feel them, with how cold it is, and even during his Pokemon journey he hadn’t done this much walking.

“Hate to bring you into this weather, Arcanine, but I’m gonna need your help.” He says as he shuffles through his bag and takes out his loyal Pokemon’s pokeball. He releases him, and Arcanine is all too enthusiastic to assist.

After being licked furiously and nearly knocked over into the snow, Blue manages to climb onto Arcanine’s back and shove his face and chest fully into his soft, warm mane. He feels himself melt into it instantly, and a sigh of relief escapes him. Even with three layers of jackets and four layers of pants, he can’t compete with his heater of a Pokemon. He truly can’t imagine another human being this high up, let alone leading a life up here. Blue at least knows he’d die up here if he tried to stay for too long.

With that, he pulls himself together and sits straight. He tells Arcanine to continue upwards, and they start in a trot.

It feels like they’re going twice the speed he was previously, and Arcanine isn’t even going that fast. It’s a relief, but at the same time he can feel anxiety bubble it’s way up.

What’s he going to say to Red if he sees him at the summit?

Will he even see him up here, or will it be a dud just like all his other searches?

That last thought makes something burn inside him, and for a second his vision turns red. 

How the hell could Red just up and leave everyone like that? It’s been months since anyone’s heard from him, months since he left before anyone else had even woken up. Months since Red left his mom in a state of panic and Blue’s gramps more upset than he’s seen him in a while. His stomach turns, he clenches his fists into Arcanine’s fur.

Arcanine lets out a short bark; not out of pain, but rather to help Blue pull himself together. He apologizes and pets his companions mane to make up for it, which gets his tail wagging.

“This is so stupid.” Blue mumbles to himself. He should really hate Red. He always acts like he does, anyways.

Ever since they were kids he’s picked on him. Poked, prodded, nudged, pushed, stole his stuff, insulted him as much as he could. Anything to get a rise out of the stone-faced kid. It only ever got him in trouble, or in one instance, slapped in the face. That never stopped Blue, though. He acted like it was no big deal, moved on, and came right back to pestering Red.

God, will Red even want anything to do with him?

Probably not, but again, that never stopped Blue.

Which is why it’s weird that it’s bothering him now.

He’s spent a good amount of time looking for the guy, so he supposes it makes sense as to why he feels so nervous. He searched all over Kanto at Red’s mothers plea, and when he came up empty, became absolutely furious.

Even if they were never close, Blue prided himself in being able to read Red fairly well. It was how they were able to communicate during their Pokemon journey, and especially how Blue was able to learn what made Red tick. The fact that his ability was failing him was frustrating at best, especially when he’s being relied on.

He knows Red’s mother doesn’t fault in not being able to find where her son’s hiding, but he could see disappointment painted all over her face. It laced in her eyebrows and wore her eyes down just as it did her sons. 

It makes him feel guilty.

But of course, Blue is a busy person. Even after a year and a half, he’s being interviewed and grabbing everyone’s attention left and right for being the (second) youngest champion in Kanto history. With Red’s absence, Blue soaked in the limelight, even taking up the position as a gym leader. And although he doesn’t take his post as seriously as most would like, it still keeps him tied down. He can’t just go scrounging around regions looking for someone who doesn’t even want to be found.

That’s what he told himself as he was locking up the gym to hike up Mt. Silver just the other day.

Arcanine’s ears begin to flick around, as if he can make out anything in the stifling silence of the mountain range. He ducks his head then, sniffing heavily at the ground. Barks chirping in short clips out of his mouth subconsciously, and then he’s off. Blue holds onto his mane for dear life, and Arcanine’s howling in joy as he races to whatever’s got his attention.

“I swear if it’s just a Swinub I’ll lose it, Arcanine!” He shouts, mainly out of pure adrenaline.

But it’s not. They’ve reached the summit of the mountain, and there they stop at a cave entrance. He can feel heat emit outside of it before he can actually see any life coming from within. The blinding light of the white layer caking the mountain makes it difficult for his eyes to adjust to the dimly lit cave, but after a moment he spots him.

He blinks dumbfoundedly. 

He didn’t actually get his hopes up in seeing Red here.

It seems Red hadn’t been expecting him, either. His eyes are wide, and he’s stopped whatever he had been doing prior to Blue’s arrival. They’re taking each other in, and Blue’s afraid to look away in fear that it’s just an illusion created by his mind to make himself feel better after another failed attempt.

Red looks exactly the same, absolutely nothing seeming to have changed from when Blue last saw him in Pallet Town.

“What’s wrong with you!” He blurts out, and it startles Red into taking a step back. He blinks, still seemingly dazed, then tilts his head as if asking a question.

“Don’t give me that look, just look at you!” Blue making his way off Arcanine’s back, nearly slipping but catches himself at the last second.

He marches right up to Red, then takes off one of his jackets and places it around Reds shoulders. Red is frozen in place, clearly not expecting it, and Blue’s face is burning at his own unexpected action. His hands are placed firmly on Red’s shoulders, and they squeeze slightly when he sees Red grip onto either side of the jacket.

“You’re going to freeze out here, you idiot!” He begins, attempting to power through his fluster. “I didn’t spend so much time looking for you only to see you die of hypothermia, geez. Have you seriously been up here all this time like this?” He scolds, as though he were talking to one of the children coming to challenge him at the gym. “And what if I had come across your corpse instead, because you thought you were too cool for long sleeves! Were you seriously going to leave me emotionally scarred like that?”

At first, Red’s face scrunches up in agitation, obviously not happy at being talked down to. As Blue continues speaking, however, Blue feels the tension leave his shoulders and instead shaking in laughter. It makes Blue blush further, but he can’t help but smile.

“You really are stupid, you know that.” Blue tells him, chuckling a little himself.

Red sticks his tongue out at him, and Blue gives him a playful shove, finally breaking contact.

He can’t remember a time they were ever this friendly towards each other.

“Seriously, keep that. Have you really been up here the entire time you’ve been gone?” Red thinks for a moment, then gives his hand a shake, as to say kind of. “Dressed like that.” A nod. Blue pinches the bridge of his nose. “Nice to see you haven’t changed.”

The sun sets as Blue begins making himself cozy in Red’s little cave. 

There’s not much to it, like Red hadn’t even attempted to make it habitable. There’s room for him and his Pokemon to move around, and while Red urges him to release his own Pokemon, Blue can’t help but wonder if everyone will be able to fit. He’s sure Red would love nothing more than to be squished by all twelve of their Pokemon, but Blue would still like to have some breathing space. He keeps out Arcanine, but the rest stay tucked away in their balls, lest the freeze.

A campfire is made near one of the walls, and a log placed as a seat next to it. Red’s the one to build it and sit down, and upon realizing he has company, scoots over and pats the seat next to him as an invitation to join him.

He does, and feels weird about it. His exhausted body doesn’t seem to care about their newly found tolerance toward the other though, as he feels himself slumping forward and closer to the fire.

“I’ve been climbing up this mountain all day.” He tells him. “Do you get off of here at all? That must be awful.” He looks over at Red, who shakes his head no.

“What do you eat, then? There aren’t even any wild Pokemon around here for miles.”

Red gets up, goes to a back part of the cave, and returns with a bowl, some berries and leaves. It makes Blue want to cry.

“Oh my god, no. Hold on.”

He grabs his backpack and takes out some granola bars. He hands one to Red, who looks somewhat offended at the criticism of his diet.

“This is probably the most nutritious thing you’ve had in months. Take it before you stress me out even more.”

Red rolls his eyes and takes it from him, opening the wrapping and taking a bite. Blue can tell he’s trying to hide how hungry he is, so he doesn’t say anything as Red shoves it down and hands him a second. The first item on his list to bring for next time is absolutely food. Something hot, if he can manage.

He blinks. Does he seriously think he’s going to come back to this frozen hell? Or that Red wouldn’t come back down after this first visit? That was the hope, at least, that Red would want to return with him. He’s at least hungry enough, it’s just a matter of how much pride he’ll be able to swallow to follow Blue back down.

That’s a matter for the morning, though. For now, all Blue wants to do is eat and relax. And by that, he means eat and brag about himself.

He tells Red about how he’s taken over the gym in Viridian, about how popular he is and about how his research with gramps is coming along, about how he gets invites to fancy battle arenas and still gets interviewed.

He absolutely omits how just about everyone, no matter where he goes, asks him about Red. As if he’s supposed to be keeping tabs on the guy.

Red nods along with a small but genuine smile. It makes Blue’s heart do flips, and he can’t help but continue talking.

It’s like that for a while. They’re cozied up next to the fire, Red’s Pokemon snuggled around them with the addition to Blue’s Arcanine. Blue chatting idly, Red nodding, laughing, making a face when he hears something he finds strange. It’s nice. They’ve never been like this before, and Blue finds himself wanting more moments like this.

“You’re really hard to find, you know.” He finally admits, which adjusts Reds focus on him. “I never expected you to be here of all places. Any reason why?”

Red opens his mouth, as if he’s going to speak, and through the exhaustion that’s had itself curled around him for so long, Blue feels a rush. He watches Red try to say something, anything, but after a moment, Red scrunches his eyebrows, closes his mouth and shakes his head. As if he can’t bring himself to say anything. He’s not disappointed, surprisingly. He hasn’t heard Red talk since they were about four.

He turns back to his backpack and rummages around. He pulls out a plain notebook and a pen. “Here,” he says and offers it to Red. “I know you’re not one for talking, thought this would make things easier.”

Red’s eyes shimmer in what Blue likes to think is gratitude, then the look all but vanishes and is replaced with an irritated one. 

Blue shrugs. “I thought you’d talk, didn’t want to interrupt you trying.” Red takes the notebook.

It takes a minute, but Blue finds himself incredibly patient with waiting for Red’s response. He watches as Red scritches away on the paper, his face scrunched up in concentration, his tongue poking out just slightly as he writes down some complicated kanji or something. He doesn’t actually realize he’s been staring until Red looks over at him quizzically. Blue blushes and drops his gaze. He hears Red give an airy laugh and feels the notebook nudge against his shoulder. He looks back over at it and takes it.

_I didn’t like the attention. It freaked me out._

“I figured that was it. You always shut yourself in your room whenever you thought a camera was around.”

Red looks even more tired than Blue feels.

“Still…” Blue pauses for a moment, trying to figure how to word what he wants to say. “You really freaked everyone out with how you just left. Your mom was a mess for a while. I still have to reassure her sometimes that you haven’t been eaten by a wild Ursaring.” He laughs, but it lacks any humor.

Red grimaces, then reaches back for the notebook. Blue obliges.

_Sorry._

Blue snorts, which seems to throw Red off.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.” Red frowns, and Blue feels panic seize up in him. Wrong answer. “I know you’re strong enough to take care of yourself, after all.” He says nonchalantly, “you’re my rival after all. Maybe if you could come back with me and tell that your mom, it’d make up for it though.”

Red’s frown deepens and he shakes his head. He grabs the notebook back.

_I don’t want to go back down._

“Why not?”

Red struggles with this one. He scratches out entire sentences, rewrites, scratches it out, flips the page, repeat. Blue puts his hand on his shoulder and he freezes up.

“You don’t have to tell me right now. I won’t make you come back down, I just wanted to see you more than anything.” Concern laces through his words, and his eyes scan Red’s face for any kind of reaction.

Red relaxes, which in turn makes Blue relax. He nods, then gives the notebook back to Blue, not seeming to want to write anything more. Blue gives him a reassuring smile, and Red gives him a tired one back.

“It’s late.” He declares, getting up to stretch. “I’ve been up way too long, and you look like you could use some rest too.” He offers his hand out to Red, who gladly takes it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading the first part of my fic ! i was going to make this into one big one-shot, but as i continued writing it, it was exceeding over my expected word count and just though something so big would be better suited for multiple chapters.
> 
> my writing twitter is [@hyepologist](http://twitter.com/hyepologist)  
tumblr is [@sleepysaur](http://sleepysaur.tumblr.com). if you want to talk to me about pokemon here i'd love to ! :)


	2. Chapter 2

_Blue’s ten years old again, having just lost the Championship title he attained not an hour ago._

_He’s not a sore loser, he tells himself. He’s not crying about it and he’s absolutely not crying about the fact his own grandpa seemed happier that Red beat Blue than he had when Blue himself defeated Lance._

_He and Red had been at on their last limb, both their final Pokemon exhausted, either one could have gone down on the spot. _

_Red won, in the end, and Blue knew it was because he’s more in-sync with not only his Pokemon, but with Blue’s as well. He could read them like a book, and while Blue had battled his rival enough times to predict what would happen next, Red had still surprised him._

_It pissed him off more than anything. He had worked just as hard as Red, gone on the same journey. And yeah, maybe Red took down a criminal organization but big whoop, right? Blue had run into Team Rocket enough times as well to know they weren’t that big of a deal, he could have done the same thing._

_Blue had always been the more prepared one of the two, always the one to be able to analyze a situation and conjure a plan on the spot to adjust. So when did Red get so good at being able to strategize? At what point did Red surpass him and show him his place?_

_He’s exhausted, sulking up on the highest peak in the Kanto region. It wasn’t too far off from the League, the perfect place to throw his fit and pull himself together. Just him and his Pidgeot, who he’s so damn proud of. He’s proud of all his Pokemon, even despite their defeat. He’s never felt so much pride for them in his life, and maybe that’s an issue._

_He’s never actually felt proud of his Pokemon._

_He took pride in himself, took pride in his abilities to train them and to get them to obey his commands. He never really thought too much about them in and of themselves, though. Maybe that was another difference between him and Red._

_Pidgeot coos and nuzzles herself close to Blue’s freezing face. It surprises him, and he’s pretty sure she can read his thoughts with how well her timing is. He leans into her, and pets her feathers. She nestles in next to him, and they watch the sunset like that._

_He hears someone lands on the mountain next to him, and he turns around and suddenly he’s four years old again._

_He and Red are in the Viridian Forest, having snuck out of Red’s moms sight to go Pokemon searching. They’re determined to befriend their very first Pokemon and start their Pokemon journey together. They had planned this for so long, it was exciting for them to finally make their first attempt._

_The only issue is, Red’s crying._

_They aren’t very far in the forest, Blue’s pretty sure anyways, but they’re not completely sure where the entrance or exit is. Blue isn’t worried about it himself, he’s here to catch Pokemon after all. It doesn’t seem like Red likes it very much, though, and seeing Red cry makes Blue’s heart clench._

_“Hey, it’s okay! When we make friends with the Pokemon it’ll show us where the exit is!” Blue tells him with more confidence than he can justify, but Red shakes his head furiously at him. He’s too scared to listen to Blue, and Blue doesn’t know what else to say to make his friend feel better._

_So instead, Blue just grabs his hand._

_Red stops shaking his head and looks at him, tears still streaming at down his cheeks._

_“I won’t let anything hurt you, I promise.” He gives him the biggest grin he can muster. “I’m going to be the best Pokemon trainer ever! The best never let anyone else get hurt!”_

_Red nods and tries his best to wipe away his tears with his free hand. Blue can tell that he’s still scared, but the death grip he has on Blue’s hand at least tells him he trusts him to take the lead._

_Instead of going deeper into the forest, Blue tries to re-trace their steps. It’s difficult for him to navigate, but he tries to act like it’s because he’s looking for Pokemon. For Red’s sake, of course. He’s totally not scared, not of a bunch of trees. Especially not of all the cool Pokemon they’ll get to meet. The ones that can shoot poison, and sting them, and send lightning bolts their way…_

_Red stops in his tracks, which jerks Blue to a halt as well._

_“Wh—hey, you have to warn me when you do that stuff.” He tells him, and rubs his shoulder to tell him it hurt._

_Red’s not paying attention to him though, and points upwards. Blue follows the direction and up in the trees he sees a bunch of Beedrill staring back at them. Whatever false sense of bravery Blue once possessed is now gone. He can feel the color drain from his face, and his grip on Red’s hand tightens._

_He wants to run, he knows Beedrill are bad. They’re mean and sting and they’re really, really big so it hurts when they sting. He doesn’t want to get hurt, and he really doesn’t want Red to get hurt. If they run they might be able to get away._

_His grandpa’s voice rings into his mind, though. He remembers his grandpa telling him that Beedrill won’t bother him if he’s quiet, and if he doesn’t bother them. If he’s slow and careful, he can walk away from one without getting hurt._

_Blue blinks, and is pulled from his stupor. He turns back to Red, who’s frozen in place with fear. Blue scoots closer to him, and whispers what his grandpa told him once into Red’s ear. It helps Red calm down, and he nods._

_Slowly, they inch their way away from the Beedrill tree. They tiptoe out of the area, and once they feel they’re a reasonable distance away, bolt in the other direction as fast as they can._

_They’re out of breath, and still lost, and adrenaline is pumping wild in the both of them. They’re no longer holding hands, both of them hunched over to catch their breath._

_After a moment, Blue laughs and gives Red a dazzling smile._

_“We saw so many Pokemon! They were so big, right? Really cool and really scary! I want a cool Pokemon like that! I don’t know if I need that many though, I think I can only have six on my team.” _

_Red gives him an incredulous look, like he can’t believe Blue can just say that. Then, he laughs and shakes his head. His smiles lop-sided and he looks like he still can’t believe what he’s hearing, but Blue can tell he’s happy._

_“Why don’t we see if we can find a trainer to help us now, yeah? I’m getting hungry, we can find a Pokemon tomorrow.”_

_Blue hands out his hand to Red once more, and is met with a slap to the face._

_He’s smacked so hard he’s now two years older._

_They’re on the school playground and there’s tears streaming down Red’s face once more. He’s trembling and the hand he used to strike Blue is still high in the air, and neither one of them can believe he just did that._

_There are kids all around them screaming and getting mad at Red and telling him he’s an awful person. They call him names and some kids start ganging up on him and push him around and Blue doesn’t feel the desire to reach out to him this time._

_Why doesn’t he want to help Red?_

_Red’s his best friend._

_He knows he was the one to make Red this upset. This is his fault_

_Why doesn’t he want to help? What happened to him? What happened to wanting to become Pokemon trainers together? Didn’t they promise they were going to always be there for each other? What happened?_

_The kids at school didn’t like Red, that’s what happened._

_They didn’t like Red, but they thought Blue was really cool._

_Blue liked the attention he got from the other kids, so he sacrificed his best friend._

_More and more kids keep crowding around them both, asking Blue if he’s okay, why Red would do such an awful thing, well he was already a freak, it was a matter of time before he snapped._

_He hears kids beating up Red, hears he’s still crying and hears them laughing at him. More and more kids are crowding around him. There’s too many, way too many._

_There’s flashing lights and there’s still people crowding around him and he barely has enough room to breathe. He’s being pushed around in a swarm of people, the stream of flashing lights blinding him and the limelight is not longer glamorous._

_The question “Where’s Red?” keeps popping up._

_Where’s Red?_

_Where is he?_

_How is he supposed to know?_

_They grew up together, right? Are they best friends?_

_Does Blue hate him for stealing his championship?_

_Does he?_

_A better question: does Red hate him?_

_He would hate him, if he were Red._

_He doesn’t know where Red is. _

_He can hardly even see in front of himself._

_The lights are too bright, he can’t walk straight, he can’t breathe._

_The question of “Where’s Red?” swarms around him, paired with the flashing lights and the constantly increasing, unidentifiable crowd, he feels like he’s drowning._

_Where’s Red?_

_He can’t find Red._

_So many people are depending on him to find Red and he can’t._

_Doesn’t he miss him too? Didn’t they travel together? They did, right? Blue you didn’t leave him behind again, did you? What happened to you two, you used to get along so well._

_Why did you treat him like that? Didn’t you used to care about him?_

_A flash of light directly in his face, his world goes white and he’s spinning._

_He’s on the ground. He thinks he is, he’s flat on his butt, looking up at someone. There’s tears welled up in his eyes. He’s crying now. God, he can’t stop crying. He’s wracking with sobs god dammit why can’t he stop crying?_

_It’s Red who walks up to him._

_He looks down at Blue, expression blank._

_Blue can’t move, he only sits there and tries to look back up through the tears in his eyes._

_They stay like that for what seems like ages._

_Then Red turn around and starts walking._

_Blue doesn’t know where he’s going, or if he’ll ever see him again._

_He starts to panic, tries to get up but his body still won’t let him move._

_He calls for Red, telling him to stay. Not to leave him again. Red doesn’t listen to him, and keeps walking. He’s walking, and walking, and eventually Blue can no longer see him._

_He’s able to move again, and he starts running. He’s calling for him still, louder and louder. So loud it rings in his ears. So loud there’s not space for anything else to occupy. It makes him dizzy and he wants to pass out but he can’t. Too many people are counting on him to find Red. He wants to find him, he wants to see him just one more time, say something to him, anything._

_He trips and starts falling._

———

Blue wakes with a start. 

He shoots up, and then hits his head on something hard, sending him right back down.

He groans and rubs the spot he hit, and it’s only after his vision adjust to the dark that he sees he had just slammed his head into Red’s own. He’s rubbing his own sore spot, one eye closed and the other trained on him. He looks worried.

“What were you doing?” Blue asks, voice gravely from sleep and something else he can’t quite place.

Red just stares at him, but Blue supposes he shouldn’t expect anything else. He still looks worried though, and Blue knows it’s not just because of his head.

His heart is still pounding from whatever nightmare he’s just woken from. His mind’s still trying to piece it together. Some parts are easier to identify than others, others are hazy blurbs that have escaped him before he even woke up.

Red’s right up on him again, giving him such an intense look it makes Blue squirm. It’s a concerned look, but Red’s expressions are either zero or a hundred, it’s hard not to feel a little unsettled.

He reaches a hand out and wipes something off Blue’s cheek. Ah, so he really had been crying. Gross.

“Don’t give me that look.” He huffs, and moves back to give himself some space. 

Red pulls his hand back and continues to stare. It’s starting to piss Blue off.

“I said stop! I’m fine! It was just a stupid nightmare.”

He’s being overly prickly and he knows it. His nerves are shot though, and with Red having been the focal point of it, he’s the last person Blue wants to see right now.

Red huffs and gives him an unamused look. He doesn’t believe Blue’s fine at all. He doesn’t try to get any closer to him though, which is all Blue needs.

The only issue is that they’re sharing a stupid futon and Blue can’t get any kind of space without freezing to death. Red’s still staring at him too, which is more of an issue than him wiping tears off Blue’s cheek. It feels like Red’s trying to reach inside his mind and find what he had been dreaming about, which isn’t helping him calm down at all.

“What?” He growls, meeting the full force of Red’s gaze.

Red’s expression lightens once he realizes what he’s doing, and gives Blue a concerned look. He knows Blue’s nosy but god he wish the guy would just drop things sometimes.

“I told you, it was a nightmare. I’ll get over it.” He’s trying really hard to brush it off, but Red isn’t having it. He won’t stop looking at him like that. It’s making it difficult not to talk to him. He blames the content of his nightmare for that.

Maybe talking about it would help…

“Fine.” He sighs. “Fine! Okay, I’ll tell you. I know you’re just nosy.” He gets an offended look shot at him at that, which makes Blue feel a little more at ease. At least he’s not being pitied.

“It was just about us.” He says and shrugs. Trying to remember details is difficult, but he knows he won’t be left alone unless he tries.

“I was on top of that mountain after you beat me. When I turned around to look at you, we were four and I was holding your hand through Viridian Forest.” His voice takes on a gentleness to it that he would never admit to. The memory’s too bittersweet. He pulls his knees up and looks pointedly at them.

“Then we were in the playground, when you slapped me. I think I still feel phantom pains of it.” He chuckles, but it’s lacking any humor. He doesn’t hear anything from Red. “Then…” His face scrunches up, trying to remember. “I think reporters started flocking me? Something like that. There were a lot of bright flashes. I don’t really remember anything after that.”

It’s far too quiet. He can hear the snores of the Pokemon surrounding them, impressed that they hadn’t woken them up.

He looks up at Red again and sees he’s trying to piece something together.

“I don’t know why I was crying, if that’s what you’re wondering. You’ve always been the crybaby.” 

Still Red doesn’t seem phased. Blue tries to size him up again, trying to figure out what he might have done and what would make Rethink so hard.

“Did I say something in my sleep?”

Red nods at that, and it makes Blue blush a little.

“Oh.”

He doesn’t really want to know what he said, so they just sit there in silence, staring at each other. A memory tries to flicker, something from his dream, and it makes Blue feel somewhat sick.

“Well, whatever. It doesn’t matter. I’m going back to sleep.” He shrugs, and sinks his way back under the covers.

Red’s pulled out of his thoughts, and sighs and follows Blue’s lead.

He can feel Red’s gaze boring into him still. It makes it unnerving to sleep through, but he already told him everything so it’s his own fault if he’s still worried.

After a moment he’s able to relax his body despite the adrenaline still trying to leak out of his system. His eyes are heavy and mind wants nothing more to drift off into unconsciousness.

He hears shuffling under the covers and something warm pressing close to him. He’s too tired to care and his body too heavy to do anything about it anyways.

Red pulls him in for an embrace when Blue doesn’t react, and if that helps Red sleep better well, Blue’s not going to poke fun at him for it.

Of course he’ll never admit it helps him sleep better too.

———

The next time Blue wakes up, he’s alone.

Or he would be, if Arcanine wasn’t cuddled up right next to him. This wouldn’t be the first time Arcanine’s snuggled up to him in the middle of the night, but it’s surprising to see him there instead of Red, the person he had been sleeping with.

He sits up and looks around the cave, making sure he really is alone, and concludes that yes, he is.

He realizes just how sore he is when he gets up. Sleeping on the ground, no matter what else is underneath him, just isn’t good for his back. His legs feel like they’ve forgotten how to walk, and his feet are so damn cold he’s pretty sure if he kicked something hard enough they’d shatter.

Still, he gets up and makes his way over to his bag, where a note’s been left for him. He picks it up, having to stare at it for a moment before he can make it out. Red’s handwriting and bleary exhaustion don’t mix well.

_Don’t worry, I’m not abandoning you to the media again.  
Training a little lower on the mountain._

_-Red_

Alright, well Red’s a little shit head.

At least he knows exactly what he had been talking about in his sleep, though.

He sighs and puts on his jackets once more, and grabs the one he gave to Red that he _obviously_ doesn't seem to appreciate well enough to use.

He makes his way down the mountain on Arcanine’s back, who’s already sniffing furiously at the ground trying to find his rival.

It doesn’t take them too long to find him, mainly because of the lightning bolts shooting out from a particularly wooded area. Seems like they’re going at it pretty hard. He has Arcanine stop a bit of ways away from their training session so he can spy on them.

It’s seems like he’s attempting a new move with Pikachu. He jumps into the air, and for as long as it can help it, spins around and sends slices of electricity down at one of the trees. It’s impressive, and something they’ve obviously been working on for a while.

Red looks satisfied, and even more than that he’s smiling. There’s no underlying emotion to it, in fact he’s practically beaming. It’s such a pure and genuine look that Blue has to look away. Pikachu’s gleeful cry catches his attention though, and he turns back to find Red embracing the little rat. It makes him feel self conscious, and he catches himself petting Arcanine’s mane.

It seems like they’re done for the day, and Blue takes it as the perfect time to walk up on them.

“Some nice moves you got there, you little rat.” He tells Pikachu himself, who gives him a nasty little look. He sticks his little tongue out at Blue and perches on top of Red’s shoulders. Good to know Pikachu hasn’t changed much either.

“I think you’d be better testing your abilities in a real battle, though.” This time, he’s talking to Red, who still has that smile on his face. It’s hard to try to act cocky when he looks like that.

Red gets that competitive look on his face though after contemplating Blue’s offer though, and Blue feels grounded once more. At the very least he knows how to interact with Red in battle.

It’s a close match, but Red ultimately wins.

If Blue thought Red was in sync with his Pokemon before, he’s pretty sure they’re all soul bound now.

Red was never able to verbally communicate with his Pokemon, so it had been a tough start for him when he first began his journey. Blue remembers how flustered Red was during their earlier battles, trying to think of ways to show his Pokemon what he wanted them to do and what strategies he was trying to enact. He doesn’t see any sign of that now.

It’s as if they can read each others minds, it’s mesmerizing to watch. In fact, Blue would say that that makes it an unfair advantage in battle. He doesn’t mention that, though, because he’s totally not a sore loser.

Blue lets out an over-exaggerated sigh and slumps against a tree, sinking down onto the ground and into the freezing snow below. It sucks, but his legs are still sore and he’s not sure if he can stand much longer. His Pidgeot nestles next to him, and he begins petting her feathers.

“You did great.” He tells her, and he means it. “I think we’ll be able to get him next time, especially if you can fly that fast next time too. He definitely just got lucky.”

Pidgeot coos in response and ducks her head to rest. He continues stroking her feathers, hoping the motions help her relax, but turns his attention to Red.

He’s staring right back at him, seeming to have been petting his Charizard as well. He looks all too happy to have won, but still his expression isn’t as prideful as it usually is when they battle. He just looks..happy. That’s all there is to it.

He ends up taking a seat next to Blue, too, and gives him a thumbs up.

“Yeah, good match. Haven’t had that much fun in a while. I’ve been restricted by League rules with all the battles I have at the gym. Even then, you’re the only one who can match up to my skills.” He finds himself boasting, and Red roles his eyes and shrugs.

“By the way, you forgot this.” He takes off one of his jackets; the one he handed to Red when he initially found him.

Red looks at it with minimal interest, and Blue pushes it more insistently at him.

“Seriously, you’re going to freeze up here! I can’t believe you haven’t gotten frostbite or anything already. I can hardly feel my fingers right now!”

His scolding only seems to make Red worry about him, and he pushes the jacket back to Blue. He refuses and pushes it again at Red.

“I have two other jackets and a sweater on, I’m fine! You need this, tough guy.” 

Blue ends up just draping it on Red like a blanket. He’s a stubborn brat who refuses to stay warm when he’s living on top of a below freezing mountain and Blue is an even _more_ stubborn brat who doesn’t want his rival to drop dead.

Red concedes and sits there with the jacket on him, and Blue takes that as the most important victory of the day. He’s not sure exactly how much protection it is though, as Blue himself is shaking from the cold even with how many layers he has. He’d note to wear more the next time he came, but he’d look like a dweeb putting anything else on, and he’s not about to sacrifice his image.

Red’s Charizard has made its way towards their little group, and lays down long around them, radiating a warmth that at least prevents Blues teeth from clattering.

They sit there like that for a while. Blue doesn’t have much to say, surprisingly, and Red doesn’t seem like he wants him to say anything either. They simply sit in each other’s company, allowing their Pokemon to take a much needed rest, and fill the silence with their own thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading ! i intend on making this fic a lot more lighthearted but i wanted to try to establish some things first. i'm excited to add more characters into later chapters too !
> 
> also, the first scene i took from my other namelessshipping fic, if in august. it's not important to read but if you would like that full scene, it's there in reds perspective.
> 
> i hope guys are enjoying it so far !


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